South China Morning Post - Tailored news alerts

The South China Morning Post (SCMP) has served as a leading source of information about China and Asia for over a century. As the premier English-language newspaper in Hong Kong, our global team of experts, reporters, photographers, and filmmakers is dedicated to delivering breaking news and comprehensive analysis from Hong Kong, China, and beyond.

Located in Hong Kong gives us a unique insight into the Chinese narrative, allowing us to report from an insider’s vantage point while benefiting from the high level of press freedom afforded by the city’s constitutional framework known as “One country, two systems.” Our commitment to upholding editorial integrity through our motto of "truth and fairness" is more essential than ever.

Our latest app release marks the most significant update to date, enabling you to discover tailored content suited to your news preferences with My News. It also provides a redesigned top menu that keeps you updated on the stories that matter to you, allowing you to customize your reading experience.

AWARD-WINNING JOURNALISM

By downloading the South China Morning Post app, you gain instant access to our award-winning journalism, which covers urgent news both regionally and globally. This includes topics such as the Coronavirus, US-China trade and tech conflicts, the dynamics between Biden and Xi Jinping, the Hong Kong National Security Law, protests in Hong Kong, electoral reform, military developments in China, updates on the South China Sea, and international relations involving the EU, India, and Australia, along with health and wellness, lifestyle trends, climate change, and much more.

KEY FEATURES

Receive breaking news alerts tailored to your interests, featuring exclusives, explainers, real-time coverage, and ongoing stories.

Enjoy Focus View, a personalized content discovery feature that ensures you stay informed about what truly matters to you.

Utilize article bookmarking to save your favored pieces and features.

Follow preferred topics and authors through myNEWS, receiving five curated stories daily alongside a customized feed showcasing our most popular articles.

Experience customizable bottom navigation, allowing you to easily add, remove, and rearrange your favorite sections.

Navigate seamlessly through your selected topics using our tailored top menu.

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Stay updated with the latest headlines from Hong Kong and China, opinion pieces, and stories from around the globe.

Gain full access to all SCMP content, which includes publications like Post Magazine, This Week in Asia, and Style.

Access our award-winning journalism covering a range of subjects including Hong Kong news, China news, regional updates in Business, Politics, Economy, Lifestyle, Tech, Health, and Sports.

Explore a variety of regional topics presented by our Asia experts, including North Korea, tensions in the South China Sea, China's economy, and the Belt and Road Initiative, along with insights on major Chinese tech companies like Tencent, Baidu, Bytedance, Alibaba, Huawei, and Xiaomi.

Discover new ways to engage with our unique content and current issues through SCMP Films, SCMP Spotlight, and SCMP Podcasts, in addition to video reports, infographics, photography, and special reports.

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Will all SCMP digital content on the website and app require a subscription to access? Will there no longer be free access to any content on SCMP.com?

As part of our commitment to providing verified news coverage, our public service articles are available for all readers to access, even those without a digital subscription. In addition, every reader has access to some free articles each month and our mobile app remains free to download.  

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Does a digital SCMP subscription grant me access to Young Post?

No, a Young Post subscription needs to be purchased separately. Likewise, a Young Post subscription does not necessarily grant you unlimited access to articles on SCMP.com. However, there are bundle (YP +SCMP) plans available. You can view Young Post plans at subscribe.scmp.com/yp

Blog

Reimagined South China Morning Post article page enhances readability and accessibility

Siobhan Brewood-Wyatt

Published: 4:30pm, 2 Sep 2024Updated: 8:07pm, 2 Sep 2024

Fewer distractions on article pages aim to improve reader satisfaction, with the change marking the latest improvement on the flagship website

September 2024 sees a new look for article pages on SCMP.com, offering readers an optimised and streamlined reading experience. Following the homepage refresh at the end of 2023, the article page redesign aims to improve readability, allowing our millions of readers globally to consume award-winning journalism with greater ease.

In the increasingly fast-paced world of news, distilling vital information and presenting key points in an accessible way is crucial. We saw an opportunity to address this need and bring essential content to our readers faster and with fewer distractions. Core elements that were refined include a more considered integration of advertising on the page, improving content discoverability (recommended content and further reading) and optimising content structure in order to make articles easier to read and understand.

The project involved multiple different teams and departments, taking the best insights from readers, Editorial, Data, Product and Research and baking them into a new page to truly reflect our readers’ needs. Working with multiple different stakeholders allowed us to holistically review problem areas and optimise core elements with dynamic solutions. The process was underpinned by hundreds of hours of reader interviews and usability testing, plus an in-depth eye-tracking study which we conducted in person at our headquarters in Hong Kong. This comprehensive process gave us a full picture of how people read online, which we then incorporated into our wider UX research methodology.

Key information at a glance

Initially, readers may spot improvements to how content is laid out at the top of articles. Many of our readers are busy professionals, often consuming multiple stories on the go throughout the day. With this in mind we’ve improved the readability of top-line information, with a shorter headline followed by a concise summary.

We also want to communicate key points at a glance, so we’ve prioritised text over the main image, allowing readers to extract the crux of the story, while still encouraging them to scroll down the page to find out more.

A more considered advertising approach

Ad placement and ratios have been adjusted to ensure they are visible but avoid disruption wherever possible, with a more balanced relationship between content and ad density. Additionally, through eye-tracking analysis conducted in person with readers, we’ve taken steps to further refine placement and ad experience, allowing our readers to concentrate on what matters most.

In summary, you’ll find more considered ad placements with more even and consistent spacing. This has helped streamline the page flow, decreasing content density and reading distractions. We’ve also gone one step further for our subscribers, totally removing “sticky” ads that may temporarily obscure content and, for all desktop users, moving ads out of the reading column to the right-hand rail. Ad experience on our app has been improved too, as we have reduced and collapsed redundant ad real estate wherever possible.

Reducing distractions, improving readability

Another key takeaway from the research phase was the need for a news format that was visually easy to consume. As a result, we’ve made several improvements to overall readability to help anchor readers. An increase of in-body headings will help navigate vital sections of each article, whilst eliminating standalone links within the article body and moving items like polls and newsletter sign-ups elsewhere minimises distractions.

We’ve also eliminated unnecessary diversions, removing the left-hand column on desktop – which our analysis found was naturally avoided by readers’ eyes anyway – to present information in a more direct and compelling way.

Improved content recommendations

Alongside the main article content, we always provide additional content recommendations, in the form of related stories, relevant newsletters and suggested further reading. Our research findings identified an opportunity to further improve this through the introduction of a two-pronged approach; one optimised for subscribers, one for non-subscribers.

For subscribers, our priority is to ensure they can focus on reading the article content, whilst for non-subscribers a more balanced approach is preferred and so we’ve made it easier to identify complementary content in the new design.

Less scrolling, more news

Through our research, readers expressed that getting to additional stories fast is something they looked for in a news website. “We wanted to improve this, allowing time-strapped readers to read their chosen article quickly and enjoyably, before seamlessly scrolling to the next – relevant – story,” said Ben Abbotts, head of Product & Technology at the South China Morning Post. Eliminating unnecessary space at the top and bottom of the page has helped ensure a smooth transition between articles, further contributing to improved readability, accessibility and overall news reading experience.

We hope you enjoy exploring our new article pages, which will go live on SCMP.com on September 2, 2024. For app users, the new article page will be available from mid-September (iOS) and the end of September/early October (Android).